MONTREAL, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada is likely to
keep interest rates on hold "for quite some time," Governor
Stephen Poloz said on Thursday, dampening talk that it was
edging closer to cutting rates in order to combat low inflation.

In a speech in Montreal, he said the central bank was more
worried about downside risks to inflation than upside ones since
inflation is well below a 2 percent target, but he stopped short
of hinting at any easing.

Asked at a news conference afterwards whether it was
accurate that the bank was getting ready to cut, he said: "We
don't know. We've expressed our neutrality on that question,
which is to say that we're even-handed on the two sides of it at
this stage, given what we know today."

He said the bank's move in October and again this month to
stop referring to future rate hikes, following 18 months of more
hawkish language, was a shift to honesty rather than dovishness.
Continued...